Fifty-three UAH students initiated into Phi Kappa Phi honor society

MAR 25, 2014

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (March 25, 2014) - Fifty-three students from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi at a ceremony held March 14 in UAH's Shelby Center. The occasion marked the 41st Initiation Ceremony for the UAH chapter of the nation's oldest and largest honor society.

"In speaking with a number of the initiates after the ceremony, I sensed a commonality, that is, of a drive, a passion even, to learn all they could about their field of study," says UAH nursing professor Dr. Peggy Hays, who also serves at the chapter's vice president. "I heard nothing of 'doing only enough to just get by.'"

The ceremony's keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Christine Curtis, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. In her remarks, Dr. Curtis spoke to the honor society's dual mission of excelling in one's own academic endeavors while at the same time being of service to others.

"We are proud of you and of your achievements," she said. "You deserve this award." But as the initiates move into the wider world, she continued, they will be "entering new territory where excellence and achievement may not be as readily recognized." They must then become steadfast and make performing one's best a way of life. "Once we have committed to excellence," she said, "there is no turning back."

And while for many of the honor society's newest members, service to others is not yet "a part of our thought processes or our daily activities," she said they now have "an obligation to use our abilities to engage in service to others." The challenge, she concluded, is "to excel, to serve, and to build a better world throughout our lives. Doing this gives us the opportunity to leave an enduring legacy for future generations."

Dr. Hays, for one, is confident that this most recent group will uphold the promise. "I trust that these Phi Kappa Phi initiates will transfer that same persistence into becoming a lifelong scholar," she says. "A lifelong scholar, of course, means striving to share that love of learning and scholarship with others wherever you go."